Showing no alarm, the captain and his first officer chatted about the ice on their plane's windshield and wings, making light of their shared concerns about flying in wintry weather as they sped toward Buffalo, New York.

Minutes later, pilot Marvin Renslow said 'Jesus Christ' and Rebecca Shaw screamed as Continental Connection Flight 3407 plunged to the ground, striking a house in a fiery crash.

All 49 people aboard and one man on the ground were killed in the crash on the night of February 12.

A public inquiry will investigate whether Captain Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw responded properly to warnings the plane's engine was nearing a stall shortly before the plane crashed

The haunting transcript of the plane's final moments - preserved by
the cockpit voice recorder - was released yesterday by the National
Transportation Safety Board at the start of a three-day public hearing
to examine safety issues raised by the crash.

Among those issues are whether Renslow and Shaw responded properly
to warnings that the Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier, a twin-engine turboprop,
was nearing a stall.

In response to questioning from board members, officials from
Manassas, Virginia-based Colgan Air, which operated the flight for
Continental, acknowledged that the two apparently were not paying close
attention to the aircraft's instruments and failed to follow the
airline's procedures for handling an impeding stall in the final
minutes of the flight.

'I believe Capt. Renslow did have intentions of landing safely at
Buffalo, as well as first officer Shaw, but obviously in those last few
moments ... the flight instruments were not being monitored, and that's
an indication of a lack of situational awareness,' said John Barrett,
Colgan's director of flight standards.

It was reported before the start of the public hearing that Renslow,
47, and his 24-year-old co-pilot Shaw were flirting moments before the
fatal crash.

The 'fatal distraction' saw the pair banter about relationships,
which was captured on the flight recorder, according to the New York
Post.

‘Fatal distraction’: The wreckage of Continental Connection Flight 3407 which crashed moments after the pilot and co-pilot were discussing relationships

The NTSB's investigation has indicated that ice on the wing was a
precursor to the stall warning but was not severe enough to cause a
crash.

About the time the two first remarked to each other about the ice,
the plane was descending from 11,000 feet (3,300 meters) and had
received permission from air traffic controllers to go as low as 4,000
feet (1,200 meters) in preparation for landing.

'Oh, yeah, that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the
leading edges in a long time, in a while anyway, I should say,' Renslow
replied.

Renslow then remarked that he'd flown about 625 hours in the region before he was hired for this job by Colgan.

After some more conversation about the icing conditions, the crew
lowered the landing gear and adjusted the airplane's flaps, but at
10:16.26 pm. there was a sound similar to movement of the flap handle,
according to the transcript, and Shaw says, 'Uhhh.'

Less than a second later, there were sounds similar to the stick
shaker - a warning transmitted through the control stick that the
aircraft is nearing a stall. They lasted for 6.7 seconds. Then a horn
sounded signaling the autopilot disconnecting, and that horn continued
until the end of the recording.

Three seconds later, a click was followed by the sound of increased engine power, according to the transcript.

At 10:16.34.8, Renslow said, 'Jesus Christ.'

Tragedy: Volunteer firefighters attempt to put out flames after the plane crashed a few miles short of Buffalo airport

Shaw said she has put the flaps up and asked if she should put the landing gear up. Renslow replied: 'Gear up, oh, (expletive).'

As noise in the cockpit increased, Renslow said: "We're down."

Then the sound of a thump.

Shaw: 'We (sound of scream).' Then with that entry, at 10:16.52, the transcript ends.

NTSB documents indicate that after the stick shaker went off,
Renslow increased air speed and pulled back on the control column in an
apparent attempt to bring the plane's nose up. Instead, the plane began
to pitch and roll.

Aviation experts said the proper response would be to push forward, pointing the nose down slightly or to keep level.

Within moments the plane's stick pusher kicked in. The automatic
safety system points the plane's nose downward in a stall to build up
enough speed so the plane can be guided to a recovery.

Shaw also retracted the plane's flaps. An expert on stall recovery
working for the plane's manufacturer, Wally Warner, told the board
retracting the flaps would significantly increase the potential for a
'secondary stall' and make it harder to recover.

Asked if a crew could have recovered from the stall experienced by
Flight 3407, Paul Pryor - Colgan's head of pilot training - replied
simply: 'Yes.'

The board is holding the public hearing a mere three months after
the crash to probe safety issues that have arisen during its
investigation rather than wait the year or more that such
investigations typically take. A second hearing will be conducted when
the investigation is complete.

All four of the board's members were present, underscoring the
seriousness of their concerns. The board hasn't held such an 'en banc'
public hearing in more than five years.

A top concern is the training Renslow received from Colgan. He
failed several training tests before and after being hired by Colgan in
2005. He had been certified to fly the Dash-8 plane for about three
months.

Pryor acknowledged Renslow didn't have any hands-on training on the
Dash 8's stick pusher, although he had received hands-on stick pusher
training on a smaller plane that he previously flew.

The hearing is expected to explore the role of fatigue in the crash.
Both pilots commuted to Newark, New Jersey, to make the flight -
Renslow from his home near Tampa, Florida, and Shaw on a red-eye flight
as a passenger from her home near Seattle.